Friday, February 16, 2007
Dorgan, Kerry and other Dems push for Iraq contracts reform
Yesterday, Senators Kerry and Dorgan introduced S.606 (authored by Dorgan, according to WaPo) at a press conference. According to the Boston Herald, the bill would:
- Punish war profiteers and set penalties of 20 years in prison and $1 million
in fines for profiteering.- Cracking down on corporate cheats and restore a rule that prohibits awarding
federal contracts to companies that exhibit a pattern of overcharging the
government.- Require full disclosure of contracting abuses, ban corporate cronyism in
federal war contracting and require federal agencies to conduct stiffer contract
oversight.- Make it harder for agencies to retaliate against whistleblowers.
WaPo also note that the bill will also
require certain professional qualifications to fill some government jobs involving contracting and public safety, a move they said was aimed at
preventing political patronage in key jobs.
The bill is co-sponsored by 21 others - all Democrats. (Umm, where are the rest, I wonder?)
Why no Republican co-sponsors? If it is because they weren't asked before introduction of the bill, will they jump on board now? Or do they really like the way things have been going with contracting in Iraq?Labels: Byron Dorgan, Democratic agenda, fraud in federal contracting, Iraq, John Kerry
The Bush Administration's
public statements on Iraq
